Bag closure



April 16, 194(1 J. F. AMES BAG CLOSURE Filed Dec. '7, 1937 Patented Apr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BAG CLOSURE John F. Ames, Selma, Ala. Application December 1, 1937, Serial No.1'l8,584

3 Claims.

This invention relating as indicated to bag closures, is more particularly directed to'means for closing a bag of paper or the like, without the use of auxiliary means such as a soft metal strip known in the art as a tin tie.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a relatively inexpensive method of closing the top of a paper bag which includes the step of stapling and at the same time precludes the m possibility of sifting even though the contents of the bag be fine granular particles, such as sugar and the like.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification. 4

it To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawings and the followingdescription setting forth in detail one product constituting, however, but one of the various applications of the principles of my invention. In said annexed drawing- Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank which may be formed into a bag adapted to be closed by the methods shown in the remaining figures.

Figure 2 is a vertical central sectional view of a bag formed from the blank shown in Figure 1. Figure3 is an end elevation with parts in section.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a filled closed bag.

Figure 5 is a detailed view of a modification. Referring now to the drawing and more especially Figure 1, it will be seen that I have provided a blank having a front portion l, rear portion 2, these being integrally connected by the side portions t and 5 and having the sides 3 and 6 opposite to the portions 4 and 5. The

fiap l is designed to be secured to the side portions 6 by any conventional means such as pasting, stitching, stapling, etc. The-bottom 5 is united to the body portion of the bag preferably he means of stitching and in a preferred form of the invention this bottom is composed of a fabric. A bag as thus constructed forms the subject matter of my copending application filed December 7, 1937, Serial No. 178,585. This form of blank is shown in the present ap* plication merely to complete the disclosure and illustrate one application of the various closure means depicted.

The body portion of the bag is creased along 5R5 lines l2, I3, I, ll, IS, I! and I! so that bag may be readily folded into flat condition after the flap 1 has been secured to the side portion 6.

In prior constructions where expense is a.

, major item the usual means of closing a bag 5 has been stapling. This can be done quite speedily and at very small cost but there is a serious disadvantage in that materials of a fine nature tend to sift through the top whenever the bag is inverted. Obviously the bag assumes many 10 different positions during transportation and sifting has presented a serious problem. In order to overcome this and at the same time provide an inexpensive closure I make use of integral extensions 20 and 2| upon the front and 15 rear portions I and 2 respectively (see Figure 2). After placement of the contents in the bag the top portion is flattened and stapled as near the upper edge as practicable. The extensions or tabs 20 and 2i however, will abut along the 20 center of the bag and thus present a valve-like structure. The fine materials will lodge in the V-like openings 30 and 3| and as more material is received in such openings pressure is increased between the extensions 20 and 2| thus effectively W sealing the bag opening.

The invention as described above is particularly applied to a bellows type of bag having inwardly directed folds l8 and I8, but it will of course be understood that a tubular bag or any 30 other type may be used. The downwardly extending tabs 20 and 2| are shown in Figure 2 in spaced-apart relationship as this figure discloses the bag when it is partly expended. After the bag is fully expanded and has received its 35 contents it "assumes the shape shown in Figure 3 and the tabs 20 and 2| are held in tight abutting contact.

In some cases it is merely necessary to use three staples as shown in Figure 4 when the tabs prevent outflow or sifting of the contents.

In Figure 5 a further modification is shown where the tabs 20' and 2| in this instance abut throughout their full length. In closing a bellows type of bag it is merely necessary to slip one of the tabs 20 or 2| over the folds l8 and it after which the bag may be stapled.

From the preceding description it is seen that I have provided a relatively simple closure means for bags of paper and the like and that in spite 50 of the simplicity a means to prevent sifting is present. Furthermore, it will be noted that even though a spaced securing means he used such as stapling, that the contents will not be subjected to sifting. 35

10 side portions comprising an integral tab extend ing from said rear portion, said tab extending downwardly and inwardly and another tab integral with and extending from, said front portion said second tab abutting said first-namedtab and staples extending through both of said tabs and said front and rear portions.

2. A closure for a bag comprising inwardly and downwardly bent tabs said bag being folded to cause said tabs to abut and staples passing through said tabs and portions of said bag immediately beneath the upper edge of said bag.

3. In a bellows type of bag having a front and a rear portion, tabs integral with said portions extending the full length thereof said tabs abutting each other for their full extentand spaced securing means extending through sai front and rear portionsv and said tabs.- JOI-m F. AMES. 

